


another school soirée

by xslytherclawx



Series: Chanukah 5779 [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Black Hermione Granger, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Canon Jewish Character, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Hanukkah, Jewish Character, Jewish Hermione Granger, Sort Of, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-02 02:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16777420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: It didn’t take a Ravenclaw to figure out that Hermione Granger had been a bit – off, recently. Fortunately, Anthonywasa Ravenclaw, and he had a decent idea as to why - although he didn’t think it was worth trying to drink all of the wine in the castle. Especially not on the second night of Chanukah





	another school soirée

**Author's Note:**

> i'm just saying, Hermione can be both black and Jewish and that's definitely how I write her.
> 
> This takes place about a month after Hermione curses Ron, and about two weeks before Hermione talks to Harry in the library about Romilda Vane, so she's in a State about Ron. Anthony's sort of dealing with his own problems.
> 
> Or: I tried to write non-Newtina het and this is what came out.  
> Title from Say Anything: "The Keg is Bleeding"

It didn’t take a Ravenclaw to figure out that Hermione Granger had been a bit – off, recently. Fortunately, Anthony  _ was _ a Ravenclaw, and he had a decent idea as to why, and it had to do with Ron Weasley and his new girlfriend – and probably a bit with how  _ obsessed  _ Harry had been with Malfoy all term (which Anthony didn’t really want to think too much about; of everyone in the school –  _ Malfoy?) _ .

He didn’t think it was worth trying to drink all of the wine in the castle, though, especially not on the second night of Chanukah, which it seemed like Hermione had as her goal. He walked up to her and tried to seem as friendly as he could. “All right?”

Hermione glared at him.

“Okay, not all right,” Anthony said. “But save some of the wine for everyone else.”

Hermione scoffed. “It’s not even very good. Or strong.”

“We’re not meant to get  _ drunk _ off of it, Hermione,” Anthony said. “And I think they water it down so the first years  _ won’t.” _

She passed the goblet to Anthony, who shrugged and drank.

“Men suck,” Anthony said. Whether he was talking about Ron or Harry or even Zacharias – he wasn’t sure.

There was just the slightest twitch in Hermione’s expression. “Pardon me?”

“I’m not trying to be coy or sly – men are awful.”

“Some more than others,” Hermione said.

“Oh, definitely!” He stepped closer, and she didn’t step away. “Look, you know I’m bisexual. It’s not exactly a secret. And  _ as _ a bloke, and as someone who’s  _ interested _ in blokes, I can confirm on both fronts that men are terrible and awful.”

“You’re a prefect,” Hermione said. “Should you really be ranting about how much you hate men in public?”

“Should you have been trying to get drunk?”

“I wasn’t trying to get  _ drunk,” _ Hermione protested hotly. “It’s not as if – I know half the people here want to ask if I’m  _ really Jewish, _ and if I am, then  _ how?” _

Anthony cast a glance around the room, and then looked to Hermione. “I assumed matrilineally?”

Hermione laughed at that; it was a short sort of “ha”, but Anthony actually felt quite proud of himself. “My dad’s black. Mum isn’t. But they’re both Muggles, so it’s – I’m used to having to overcome adversity. You know: black, Jewish, Muggleborn, a girl.”

“You shouldn’t be, though,” Anthony said. “And as for the people in this room; half of them – myself included – have family who wasn’t born Jewish, whether or not they became Jewish at some point in their lives. It shouldn’t matter. God knows there’s barely any of us as it is.”

“You’ve got family who – wasn’t born Jewish?”

“Sure,” Anthony said. He didn’t elaborate, because it wasn’t his place to say  _ who, _ or even if he maybe just had a goyische relative by marriage. “And, for the record, my gran’s a Muggleborn Jew and she’s probably the most amazing witch I know. Which you can’t tell my mum, of course. And my uncle – his husband’s a Muggleborn Jew and he’s  _ gay.” _

“Are they – still in Britain?” Hermione asked.

Anthony shook his head. “No. My uncles are in – America, I think, although we’re not meant to know exactly where, and my grandparents made aliyah.” It occurred to him, then, as Harry Potter’s best friend (and a Jew who surely had the same sense for these things as his uncles and grandparents), she was probably terrified of what was going on. He knew  _ he _ was, and he was a Half-Blood (and the “right” sort of Half-Blood, with any Muggle blood relatives more than two generations removed).

“I sent my parents to Australia,” Hermione said, voice barely above a whisper.

Anthony filled in the blanks, because he was clever, and he knew that parents – decent parents – didn’t make a habit of going to the farthest English-speaking country in the world when their children were in grave danger, and he knew how clever and gifted Hermione Granger was, so he said, “Oh. Have your friends got – any idea?”

“No,” Hermione said. “They wouldn’t understand. They’re not – well, they’re not  _ Jewish.” _

He wanted to ask what she was doing over holidays, how she was staying safe and being fed, but he didn’t let himself worry. It was Hermione Granger, he was talking to. She was the most brilliant witch he knew. “I know that struggle,” he said instead.

“So what’re your boy problems?” Hermione asked, which Anthony recognized immediately for the deflective technique it was. Since when had Hermione cared for other people’s romantic advances? Let alone people who might just under the loosest definition be considered  _ friends. _

Still, he answered. “I’ve been in love with a selfish prat for round about two years, we’ve shagged a couple dozen times, but never anything more than that, and I think one of my friends – who is  _ lovely _ and shall remain nameless – fancies me.”

“Is he a good shag, at least? The prat?”

Anthony laughed. “Surprisingly, yeah. Or maybe it’s not that surprising. I dunno. My uncle would kill me if he knew, I think.”

“Just your uncle?”

“My uncle didn’t date  _ anyone _ until he’d dropped out of the Healer program to go to rabbinical school because – to hear him tell it – everyone he’d fancied in school was a prat, a lesbian, or an observant Christian – which as an observant Jew wasn't quite in the cards for him. And then he dated a prat for two years – and then he met his husband. Who is – not remotely a prat, I don’t think.”

“Well,” Hermione said, “my mum  married a goy. But – I don’t think Dad was ever observant. Or a prat.”

“He’s my godfather, too, and I think he takes it a bit too seriously. Especially since I’ve come out. But – there’s a war going on; I’m not about to try to wait till it’s over to shag someone who’s fantastically gorgeous just because he’s an arse and I might regret it later.”

He could tell from the expression on Hermione’s face that she didn’t quite agree with him, but he laughed out loud when she said, “You’re right, Anthony; men suck.”

“We do,” he agreed.

“God, is that really all boys think about? Who’s fit and who’s up for a snog or a shag?”

“Not  _ all _ we think about,” Anthony said. “It’s more a pleasant distraction from exams and the war than anything, for myself, at least. You should try it.”

“Are you saying I’m uptight?”

“No,” Anthony said. “I’m saying snogging’s a slightly healthier coping mechanism than getting smashed at a school Chanukah party. Especially when you’re a prefect and meant to be setting an example.”

“Maybe you’ve got a point,” Hermione said. He could  _ see _ the gears turning in her head, and wondered if he’d just unwittingly beckoned the end of western civilization.

“You think so?” He sipped at some of the watered down wine.

“Meet me at the empty classroom down the hall in five minutes?”

Surely he wasn’t understanding that properly. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Just a snog, Anthony. I’m not going to  _ shag _ you.”

Anthony ran through the pros and cons in his head; Hermione was fit and clever and this was definitely a mistake and whatever she was going through with Ron Weasley was really none of his business (even if he thought she could do better) and it wasn’t as if whatever he and Zacharias had was anything remotely exclusive and when would he get another chance?

“All right,” he said. 

“Five minutes. Just down the hall.”

“Five minutes,” he agreed.

He watched Hermione collect her menorah and walk out of the room, and he busied himself by finishing the goblet of wine, going back for another couple of latkes, drinking a bit more wine, and packing up his menorah in his bag while making small talk to Gary Margolies. He excused himself, citing homework, and met Hermione Granger in the classroom.

“Right on time,” she said.

“Not very Jewish of me, is it?” Anthony asked.

“No, but I’ll forgive it,” Hermione said. “Just a snog.”

“Of course.”

“And don’t you dare tell  _ anyone.” _

“If I can keep a secret – whatever the hell it is I have with that bloke – secret, and not give his name or House or year or  _ anything, _ I think I can handle one snog with you.”

“Okay,” she said, and then she walked up to him, yanked him down by the tie, and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I figure at least some Muggleborns (or people married to Muggleborns) saw the writing on the wall and got out before the Ministry fell (which is just about eight months out from this) - and like, personally, I figure Jewish witches and wizards would be more willing to leave before that.
> 
> * * *
> 
> [tumblr](http://xslytherclawx.tumblr.com)


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